Dems. Ignore Gulf Storm Victims at Convention

Daniel Halper

September 5, 2012 1:46 PM

On Monday, President Obama traveled to Louisiana to tour flood damage after Hurricane Isaac hit the Gulf region last week.

"As you can see, there has been enormous devastation in St. John’s Parish, and that’s not the only place that’s been hard hit," said Obama, speaking about 35 miles from New Orleans, a city that had been devastated in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit. "We’ve also seen enormous damage in Plaquemines Parish and in other parts of Louisiana and Mississippi."

But the devastation--which includes loss of lives--went unmentioned last night by the three major prime time speakers at the Democratic convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

All three main speakers last night, Maryland governor Martin O'Malley, San Antonio mayor Julián Castro, and First Lady Michelle Obama, failed even to acknowledge that the storm had just recently hit the Gulf Coast, a review of their prepared remarks reveals.

The same storm, Hurricane Isaac, caused the Republicans to cancel the first day of their convention last week in Tampa.

As if the battered survivors of hurricane Isaac haven't been through enough already what with massive flooding, raging wind and rain, power outages and many people losing their homes, Louisiana authorities Monday pegged an eighth death on the effects of last week's Hurricane Isaac.

A 90-year-old man died in a sweltering hot and humid home without electricity in suburban New Orleans.

According to Jefferson Parish Coroner Gerry Cvitanovich, the man “was found in his home by family, and the home had no power to it."

Parish officials have advised everyone to check on family members and get them into air conditioning somewhere or get them to a shelter.

Isaac killed six people in Louisiana and two in Mississippi, according to state authorities.

And at least 13,000 are still without power in Louisiana, according to CNN. "Throughout the state, at least 13,000 homes were damaged, Christina Stephens, a spokeswoman for the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said Tuesday."